A collection of short stories and one-shots
by ehugg14
Summary: An ever-growing collection of short stories and one-shots set about a year or so before the second HTTYD movie. Light romance of course, mainly concerning Hiccup and Astrid. Anything really could take place in these stories; I'm certainly not limiting the possibilities.
1. A winter on Berk

**A Winter On Berk**

It was cold on Berk. Sure it snowed for nine months of the year and hailed for the other three but every country cycles through the seasons, and Berk was no different. It was currently at the coldest part of that cycle, and the inhabitants of the small, rocky town were feeling it. Snow fell so deep that not even dragons could walk through it, and the villagers took shelter inside their frozen-over huts. The entire island was locked in a miserable, wintry state as almost constant blizzards assaulted everyone there.

It was with a groan that Hiccup Haddock the third woke up one freezing morning. The young man curled up into a ball, pulling his blanket around himself in an effort to stay warm. But it was to no avail, and Hiccup opened his eyes with a sigh, sitting up as he did so. Running cold hands through his long, auburn hair the dragon-rider stared out of his frost-covered window to a land of pure white.

"Looks like the Thorstein house has frozen over again…" He said to the black dragon curled up in the corner, "C'mon bud, let's get to work." Toothless let out a noise of complaint as Hiccup shuffled to the edge of his bed, searching for his prosthetic foot. "Aw what's wrong Toothless? Is the fire-breathing dragon cold?" Toothless snorted smoke across the room at Hiccup, who chuckled heartily. Finding his foot, which he'd left under the bed, Hiccup began to strap it to his leg, grimacing in pain as he did so.

Winter was the worst time of year for Hiccup. On top of the usual aches and twinges of pain in his stump the freezing cold made it extra sensitive to literally everything. Even a particularly jarring step could have Hiccup howling in pain. And, worse yet, the 19 year old was experiencing yet another growth spurt. The changes of the young-adult's body affected his stump in weird ways, as if it didn't know how to grow properly. This caused Hiccup immense pain almost constantly, and he often found himself fighting tears. Pushing through it all, as he'd grown accustomed to doing, he pushed himself off the bed and into a standing position. Toothless gave his best friend a concerning look as he hissed in pain.

"I'll be fine Toothless, let's just get out there and help." Keeping as much weight off of his left leg as possible, Hiccup strapped his flight-suit on and wrapped himself in a large bear-skin. With a familiar thunk-clack, he moved down the stairs and towards the front door, Toothless in tow. The large frame of Stoic seemed to fill the room that Hiccup descended into.

"Morning son," the chief said, "bitterly cold day it is today. A few of the houses have even frozen over." He turned to look at his son. "Where are you heading off to?"

"I'm going to try to thaw out a few of those houses," Hiccup explained, gesturing towards the frosty window. "Hopefully I can finish them all today." Stoic gave him a concerned look.

"You've been working yourself like a yak, son. You'll need to take a break eventually." Hiccup would've been touched that his dad was showing concern for him, but it was far too cold, and his leg hurt too much, for such emotions.

"Well today isn't that day, see ya later dad!" Hiccup shot past his father and out the door before he could get another word in. He immediately regretted it, as a wall of sleet and cold air slammed into the young man. Wrapping himself in his cloak, Hiccup clambered onto the cold leather that was Toothless' saddle and clicked his metal foot into place, hissing in pain as his leg was jarred. Working the stiff gears, Hiccup braced for takeoff.

"C'mon bud, let's go!" With a puff of snow the Night Fury leaped into the air and glided out over the town, fighting the blizzard to stay in the sky. Battling the elements, Hiccup guided Toothless to hover over the centre of the town. "Ok bud, low power plasma blasts. We need to knock the snow and ice off of the roofs!" Toothless acknowledged his rider's wishes with a small grunt and began to charge himself up. Letting loose a series of small, purple shots, the duo began to shake snow off of the houses in town.

"Good work Toothless you're doing great!" Hiccup shouted over the wind to his dragon. With a grimace he leaned down to rub his sore stump. On days like these it almost felt as if he still had a left foot, and that that foot was being stabbed with needles. Toothless whipped his head around to give Hiccup a concerned look when a seemingly gale-force wind caught the two off guard.

Spiralling wildly through the air, Hiccup clung onto Toothless for dear life as the two plummeted to the ground.


	2. A Winter on Berk chapter 2

Astrid Hofferson had not risen out of bed easily that morning. Not only was it freezing cold inside the small wooden house she shared with her parents and Stormfly, the young Viking had woken to find her hair tangled in ways she had never imagined it could be. Grumbling darkly Astrid had gotten dressed in multiple layers of fur and brushed her hair for a solid half hour. Then she'd headed out into the kitchen for a warm breakfast. Once there, however, the hungry warrior had discovered that there was no food left in the house. After kicking a few chairs and flipping a table or two, Astrid had finally calmed down.

"I guess… I guess we'll just have breakfast at Hiccup's. I was gonna go over there anyway. Stormfly!" She called her dragon and braced herself as she opened the door. The second Astrid had undone the cold metal latch the door had flung open, letting the elements inside. Fighting through the wind she'd manage to close the door and grab onto her ever-faithful Deadly Nadder.

"C'mon girl, we can make it! Hiccup only lives… all the way across town." With a groan of frustration Astrid clung onto Stormfly as the dragon all but pulled her through the snowstorm. It was halfway through the town, nearing the town centre, that Astrid detected the sound of dragon fire. Specifically, plasma blasts.

"Is that Toothless up there?" Astrid inquired as she squinted through the blizzard, only able to make out a black blur against the white sky. "What is Hiccup doing up there in this weather? This isn't safe-" It was at this moment that an incredibly strong wind tore through the village and Astrid witnessed Toothless flipping through the air as he fell to the ground.

"HICCUP!" Astrid shot forward through the snow to find where Hiccup and Toothless had hit the ground. After a minute or so of searching she found her boyfriend of a year and a half lying in the snow, rubbing his head. Hiccup seemed completely shocked as Astrid shot forward and kneeled beside the chief-in-waiting. "Oh my gods Hiccup are you alright? Are you hurt? What are you doing flying in this weather?"

"Astrid?" Was what Hiccup responded with. "Where… where did you come from?" Astrid cupped her boyfriend's face in her hand and inspected his head for any injuries.

"I was on the way to your house for breakfast when I saw you fall out of the sky! What were you doing flying around out here?" Hiccup remembered Toothless with a jump and turned to check if he was ok. Toothless' warm green eyes met his and the dragon gave him a concerned nudge.

"I was clearing some snow off of people's house. They're trapped inside there!" Astrid sighed.

"It's ok Hiccup, they'll be fine inside. It's not safe to be out in conditions like this. You need to get inside yourself!" She exclaimed.

"Astrid I'll be fine." Hiccup stroked her cold cheek as he rose to stand. "I've just got a few more houses to do and then I'll go help at the forge-" It was at this moment that Hiccup's left leg received a flash of blinding pain and he would've fallen over had Astrid not been there to support him.

"Hiccup! Hiccup are you ok? Were you hurt in the fall?" Astrid was very worried about the state of her boyfriend's health. All Hiccup did, however, was brush Astrid off and limp towards Toothless.

"I'm fine, Astrid." He said irritably, "And I've got a lot to do. I'll see you later." With a sharp pull, he guided Toothless into a take-off. _Hiccup's never brushed me off like that before, Astrid thought, what's wrong with him? He said he's going to the forge-maybe Gobber will know what's up!_

"Stormfly, come here girl!" The dragon obeyed Astrid's call and the two battled the elements up the hill to Gobber's house. Once there, she bashed on the frost-coated door until Gobber finally opened it.

"Geez lass ye' nearly scared me half to death! What's all this racket 'bout?"

"Hi Gobber," Astrid was shivering violently by this point, "It's about Hiccup. Can I please come in?" Gobber hurriedly stepped aside and gestured inwards with his hook.

"Sure thing lass." The young woman quickly jumped in, after telling Stormfly to wait in the stables. 'Now," Gobber said, "what can I do for ye' on this fine Berkian day, Astrid?" Astrid moved to warm her hands in front of the cheery fire Gobber had kept.

"It's Hiccup Gobber, he's being weird; as in irritable. He completely brushed me off earlier after I saw him trip and limp from a fall. You work with him most days, so I figured you'd know if anything was up that he hadn't told me." The blacksmith took in what the girl had said and nodded a few times.

"Aye lass, you were right to come to me. No, he hasn't told me anything. But I can have a good guess as to what's wrong." At this Gobber limped across the room and sat down heavily in his cushioned armchair. Astrid gave him a quizzical look. "Look Astrid, this time of year can be hard for those who… 'aren't fully there.'" This seemed to confuse the woman further. "Um… The cold isn't easy on stumpy people." And still Gobber received nothing but blank looks. "Alright! The cold makes us amputees ache in the places we've no longer got!" Astrid's mouth formed an O shape and a look of knowing crossed her face. "Geez," Gobber grumbled, "try to be sensitive about a sensitive subject…"

"So he's frustrated because he's in pain?" Gobber nodded. "Well what can I do to help him?" The one –handed man shook his head at this.

"Some things canna be helped, Astrid. There's nothing you can do but wait out the winter. Just try to tiptoe around him; constant pain makes anyone irritable, especially someone as busy as Hiccup. Astrid stood up.

"Well thanks for your help Gobber. I'll see what I can do for Hiccup." Gobber waved his hook dismissively.

"Ah it's the least I could do. Don't be afraid to drop by anytime ye' wanna talk." Astrid flipped her hood up and stepped out the door.

"Bye Gobber!" She shouted back into the house before slamming the door. _There has to be something I can do._ The young woman thought as she fetched her dragon. _Maybe if I can just warm him up..._ Astrid shot home to fetch something before heading back out to the forge, where she found Hiccup straightening up some bent swords. The mighty, tough warrior stepped into the cold, damp forge with a tray of steaming herbal tea in her hands.

"Hiccup!" She called, causing the aforementioned to whip his head up from his work. "I brought you some tea. You know; to warm you up." Hiccup looked confused for a moment, but limped towards Astrid with a gratified look on his face. He was obviously trying to disguise the limp, but Astrid never missed anything when it came to her boyfriend. Hiccup delicately picked up one of the hot cups and blew on it before taking a sip. Astrid watched as he closed his eyes, fingers absent-mindedly clutching at the remainder of his left shin. With a grimace Hiccup's eyes snapped open. It seemed as if his leg was bothering him badly.

"Thanks Astrid, that was beautiful." He replaced the teacup despite only having taken one sip, and quickly kissed Astrid on the cheek with rapidly cooling lips. "But I should probably get back to fixing these swords up. This stuff won't do itself. You should get inside, you might catch a cold." And, with that, Astrid once again found herself watching helplessly as her boyfriend limped off to continue working.

 _Well dang, that didn't work. Perhaps I just need something to take his mind off of all this work and discomfort. But what could distract him if I can't?_ The young woman snapped her fingers. I know just the thing. Astrid bore through the snow until she reached the main hall. Once there she rifled through the many storage rooms until she found what she was looking for; Maces and Talons. Maces and Talons was the most popular board game in the archipelago, and Hiccup was a brilliant player.

When she returned to the forge with the board game she found Hiccup moulding some leather for a saddle.

"Hiccup," she said as she shook the board, "look what I've brought with me. You've been working hard all morning, I think you should take a break." Hiccup took one glance at Astrid and sighed.

"No, Astrid" he replied, "I- I have too much to do. Thanks for the offer but I really need to get this done." Astrid sighed heavily and left the building to stand outside.

 _It's like he doesn't want to be helped! Why does he always have to be so stubborn?_ Astrid stomped her feet in frustration, causing Stormfly to give her a quizzical look.

"What will I ever do with him, Stormfly?" The question had barely left Astrid's mouth when a large crash sounded from inside the forge. Running in, Astrid found Hiccup crouching down and clutching his left shin. The crash seemed to have been cause by the tools he'd knocked to the ground. At his girlfriend's hasty entrance, Hiccup's head shot up.

"Astrid!" He tried to stand and act as if nothing had happened, but his left leg shook under him. "Nothing to worry about here; I-I uh, I just tripped. Yeah, I just tripped." Astrid shot Hiccup a look that could melt ice.

"That's it Hiccup, I know that your leg is bothering you and you won't let me help. You're coming with me." And, despite much protest, Astrid dragged Hiccup up onto Stormfly's back and began moving towards Hiccup's house.

"Astrid I'm fine! Really, you're overreacting so much! Just let me down Astrid!" Hiccup's protests and complaints fell upon deaf ears. Astrid was done with watching the man she cared about suffer in silence. They found Hiccup's home to be empty; Stoic had likely headed to the great hall to warm himself with mead. Storming inside, Astrid headed straight to the washroom where she asked Stormfly to heat up the water. By this point Hiccup had climbed off of the dragon's back and was about to speak when Astrid put a finger to his lips.

"I've had it with you suffering in silence, Hiccup. The cold isn't good for you and I know it's making you hurt. I will be standing right outside this wash-room, and you are going to take a hot bath, ok?" Hiccup stood with his mouth agape for a few moments before he closed it and nodded.

"Yeah, ok." Astrid could tell that he was more than a bit annoyed at her, but still waited patiently outside the closed door until she heard his clothes hit the floor and his body hit the hot water. Once she was certain that he wasn't going to run off, Astrid made her way towards the kitchen.


	3. A Winter on Berk chapter 3

The entire way back to his house Hiccup had been fuming. He didn't want to be cared for or babied and, quite simply, was in a dark mood already. However this had all changed the second that he'd climbed into the steaming wooden bath. The warm water instantly soothed all of the aches and pains throughout the young man's body and residual limb. Hiccup soon found himself dozing in the water, a content smile on his face.

Judging that he'd spent long enough soaking, Hiccup clambered out of the tub and dried himself as he hopped on one leg. Once sufficiently dry, he then changed into a fresh red tunic and brown trousers, both of which he'd left in the bathroom earlier. And then, kneeling down, Hiccup had refastened his prosthetic foot feeling much more comfortable in it then he previously had. Opening the bathroom door, Hiccup stepped out into the hall.

"Astrid?" Hiccup turned his head left and right in search of his girlfriend, but to no avail. However he could smell something acrid, almost as if it were burning stew... Walking down the hall and into the kitchen Hiccup saw something he thought he never would. Astrid, with her hair tied back and her fur gloves removed, was standing over the fire, stirring something black and brown. Amazed at the sight of Astrid cooking, Hiccup stood and stared. After a while the blonde beauty he was admiring noticed him.

"Hiccup! How was your bath?" She sent a charming smile towards him, which he reciprocated fully.

"Uh, yeah it was great! Just what I needed." Hiccup steeped forward to hug Astrid from behind and kiss her cheek. It was as he looked over his girlfriend's shoulder that Hiccup noticed something was off. "Astrid, what exactly are you making there?" Astrid's cheeks flushed red at this question.

"Well... I know you aren't feeling well so I decided to make you some warm lamb-stew! I don't think it's turned out too well at all..." Hiccup snorted a little bit and Astrid gave him a chilling look.

"What! No, you haven't burnt it!" He stammered as he lied through his teeth. "It's just... well-cooked?" Hiccup took a step back and Astrid's face fell in defeat.

"It's horrible, isn't it?"

"Of course not..." Astrid fixed Hiccup with another glare. "Well, alright. It's perhaps, maybe, a teensy bit burnt." Astrid stared at Hiccup blankly, cast a look at the pot of burning stew, then looked back at Hiccup and laughed loudly.

"Gods Hiccup, what was I thinking? I've never cooked anything before, well anything except for wild boar!" Hiccup joined in the infectious laughter.

"And with good reason too, I'd say!" The two teenagers shared in each other's laughter, which went on for minutes until, finally, they calmed down to a chuckle. Somewhat solemn, Hiccup reached over and stroked Astrid's cheek. "Thank you Astrid, for caring about me."

"Hey, someone's got to do it." Was her reply. Hiccup leaned over and tenderly kissed Astrid on the lips. The two separated and smiled for a moment before, all of a sudden, Hiccup's left leg buckled.

"Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed, "Is it your leg? Are you ok?" Hiccup set his face into a mask, hiding the pain as he'd been doing for the past 4 years since he'd lost the foot.

"It's ok Astrid, I can take care of this. I'll catch you later, ok?" Without waiting for a reply Hiccup made his escape upstairs to the solace of his room. Once there the young man curled up in a ball on his bed and fought the tears of pain that threatened to spill from his eyes. It was cold in the bedroom; the warmth of the fire hadn't reached that far upwards. But suddenly, out of the cold, a soft and warm hand stroked the side of Hiccup's face.

"You don't need to be brave with me Hiccup." Astrid whispered to the man she loved, "I will always be here for you, and I will always understand." Crawling under the covers Astrid wrapped her warm body around Hiccup's, even though he was bigger than her now. Reaching down she began to unfasten Hiccup's metal foot, but he stopped her. "It's ok babe, you can trust me." Hiccup gulped loudly; for Astrid had never seen his bare stump before. What if she thinks of me as less? What if she thinks I'm weak for missing my foot? Hiccup mentally slapped himself. This is Astrid, yak-brain; the woman you love and trust. And so he nodded slowly, allowing Astrid to slip his prosthetic off.

Immediately the pain in Hiccup's residual limb lessened, and he rolled over to face Astrid.

"I'm glad you're here." He whispered. Astrid smiled warmly.

"Me too." She replied just as quietly. And the two wrapped their arms around each other, eventually falling asleep in that position. Outside the blizzard fought on. But inside, Astrid and Hiccup had found their own safe haven, warm and safe in each other's arms.


	4. How To Protect Your Loved Ones Part 1

"Woooo yeah! Come on Toothless, let's push it bud!" Hiccup leaned low over his night fury as the two accelerated rapidly through the air. Whooping with joy, Hiccup felt the cool wind on his face as he cut through it with the speed that only a dragon could reach. Reaching forward he gave Toothless a rub behind the ear, causing the dragon to make his 'happy noise'. Smiling, the young man pulled back on his dragon's reins, slowing them to a hover. Turning around, Hiccup realized that he'd left someone behind.

"Slow down there, Hiccup." Astrid called out as she approached on her Deadly Nadder. "We can't all be riding Night Furies now can we?" Hiccup grinned.

"My apologies, milady. I was caught up in the rush." Toothless called out in agreeance to his rider. "I know bud, we've got plenty of more flying to do today. Astrid, are you happy to keep exploring? We haven't mapped this area out yet." The two young adults had been flying around the archipelago for weeks, mapping the area out and searching for new dragon species. On this particularly sunny day they had been flying for most of the morning. Answering Hiccup's question, Astrid shook her head.

"I'm really hungry. Can we keep exploring after a lunch break?" She called out over the wind.

"Yeah, sure." Hiccup replied, "We can stop on that island down there." 'That island' was a medium-sized piece of rock with some trees and grass on it, all but floating in the ocean. Guiding their dragons down Astrid and Hiccup landed on the small island and unloaded their saddle-bags of food. Finding an ideal spot the two sat down for their picnic lunch, leaving the dragons to doze behind some rocks.

The oceans of the archipelago were crystal blue on that day and the breeze blew particularly strong but was nice, crisp, and cool all the same. As Astrid and Hiccup sat together munching on crunchy apples and preserved beef, Hiccup pointed outwards.

"What about that forested island out there? Reckon we might find a few Timberjacks? Maybe some more Night Terrors?" Astrid squinted in the direction that Hiccup was pointing.

"What island, Hiccup?"

"The island I'm pointing at." Astrid squinted even harder, sticking her neck out like a stork.

"Nope, I'm not seeing anything." Hiccup sighed.

"Fine, I'll grab the spyglass, be back in a second." Clambering to his feet with the grace of a one-legged Viking Hiccup walked back to where he'd left Toothless and Stormfly. However, upon stepping past the large stones that sat there, Hiccup couldn't find any trace of the Night Fury or the Deadly Nadder. Frowning, the young man made to walk back to Astrid but froze when the cold, sharp steel of a dagger was pressed to his throat. A rough voice whispered hoarsely into his ear;

"We 'ave your dragons. Now stay quiet or we'll slit yer throat."

"ASTRID!" Hiccup called out, "RUN!" Although where she could possibly run on the tiny island he didn't know. All Hiccup knew was he couldn't let Astrid get hurt, no matter the consequences to him. Said consequences came quickly, and Hiccup's world shook as the dagger's pommel hit him in the base of the skull, sending the dragon rider down to the ground. Hiccup was then roughly picked up and thrown over the shoulder of a shirtless, tattooed man. Although his vision was blurry Hiccup could just make out Astrid fending off three armed men at once as they approached her.

All the young Viking could make out in his haze of confusion was that he was brought onto a wolf ship and bound to the mast tightly. Head dipping, Hiccup fought against the throbbing pain in his skull to remain conscious.

"Astrid…" He mumbled lightly. "Astrid..!" Hiccup detected footsteps around him, and some harsh yelling. Soon after he thought he heard Astrid struggling as she was brought onboard, but Hiccup's ears were throbbing as well. The ship began to move and the water splashing onto and around Hiccup aided in his recovery. After a few minutes he could tell that Astrid was sitting a few meters in front of him, tied up, and that the two dragons were behind Astrid in muzzles and cages made of iron. Angry at the treatment of his girlfriend and their dragons, Hiccup took in his surroundings.

As far as He could tell they had been kidnapped by pirates. As he looked around Hiccup took note of several unsavoury looking characters, most with tattoos, beards and scars. They made for some pretty intimidating figures; especially the one that Hiccup realized was staring at him. The man was tall and thin, yet still packed lean muscle on him. He was dirty and unshaven and had tattoos running up and down his arms and face. This man made to move towards Hiccup.

" 'Ow much doo 'ya reckon I could git for 'ye on the slave market?" Hiccup gulped loudly. "Well, 'yoo and 'yer pretty friend over there." The man jerked his thumb back towards Astrid. Hiccup's heart rate began to rise in panic and he could see the dragons freaking out in their cages, scared for their riders. Thinking quickly, Hiccup constructed a plan.

"Us? Oh no, you wouldn't want to sell us." The pirate captain raised an eyebrow at Hiccup.

"Oh? And why's dat?"

"Because," Hiccup said, "I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoic the Vast and chief-in-waiting to the throne of Berk and the tribe of the hairy hooligans. You'd make much more of a profit ransoming us back to the chief of Berk." The rough looking man chewed on his lip in thought and looked at the clear, blue sky. Eventually, and seemingly randomly, he pointed his dagger at Astrid.

"You girl. What's 'ya name?" Astrid frowned, barely suppressing her rage.

"Astrid." She spat at him. He growled at her.

"Your full name girl and no more of that attitude of I'll have your throat slashed!" _Please Astrid_ , Hiccup thought, begged, _please just keep a level head_.

"Astrid Hofferson." She said calmer than she'd last spoken, although her anger was still evident. She'd seen Hiccup's pleading look and trusted that he had a plan.

"So what I'm gathering," The pirate pondered aloud as he paced back and forth between Hiccup and Astrid. "Is that this strapping young man," He pointed at Hiccup, "is son of the chief and therefore very valuable to me. This pretty young lady however," He gestured towards Astrid, "is in no way related to royalty, and therefore of much less significance." Hiccup's heart plummeted to a near stop as he realized what was being said. "Oh well, I'm sure I can find another use for her. Men, take her away!"

Hiccup's heart slammed back into full speed as a group of pirates advanced towards Astrid, the woman he loved.

"NO!," Hiccup screamed, "Leave her alone! Take me, do whatever you want but don't hurt Astrid! Please!" All Hiccup's screaming did was draw the attention of a particularly bulky pirate, who ran over and savagely punched the chief-in-waiting in the cheek. Hiccup coughed blood as the man drew his fist back for another punch when, all of a sudden, a dragon roar thundered loudly over all the noise on the deck. In a burst of plasma Toothless broke out of muzzle and cage, freeing Stormfly in the explosion.

Leaping into the fray, Toothless kicked the bulky pirate off of Hiccup and fended Astrid's attackers off. Screams of pain sounded through the air as Stormfly used her barbs to sting and impale multiple pirates. A barb cut through the ropes restraining Hiccup and he surged to his feet, running straight at Astrid. After checking her for injuries, and finding her unharmed, Hiccup helped Astrid up onto her dragon before mounting his own.

As the two dragon riders fled from their captors Hiccup felt that he had been shaken to the very core by this experience. Looking over at Astrid, Hiccup felt bile rising in his throat. _Gods, I nearly lost you_.


	5. How To Protect Your Loved Ones Part 2

Astrid and Hiccup flew home as fast as their dragons could carry them. Luckily the dragons were unharmed, as was Astrid. The only physical injury sustained by anyone was the punch Hiccup had taken, and his jaw was certainly feeling the oncoming bruise. No one was ok on the inside, however. Sure, Hiccup, Astrid and the other riders had all been in dangerous situations before and each of them had been held captive at some point. But never before had they felt so utterly helpless and hopeless in a situation such as the one the two had just experienced.

Banking Toothless so that he flew closer to Astrid and Stormfly, Hiccup asked how she was. He noticed the young woman's eyes were wet and bloodshot.

"I'm ok, Hiccup. I guess I'm just shaken. What about you? Your face looks like its seen better days."

"Ahahaha" Hiccup's forced laughter lightened the talk, "Well I did take a punch from a big fat pirate. Tell you what it's got quite a bit of sting to it." Remembering who it was that saved him from more punches, Hiccup leaned down and thanked his dragon.

"We should get that checked out by Gothi Hiccup. Home is only about an hour away now." Hiccup nodded and the rest of the journey was spent in silence, as his head was heavy with thought and his heart leaden with emotion.

Swooping down towards the island town of Berk Hiccup pointedly avoided going home (in order to avoid telling his father what'd happened), and instead did what Astrid had suggested and visited Gothi. Astrid had decided to head home, after a very long hug with Hiccup, and he'd walked up the many stairs to the healer's hut. Hiccup knocked lightly on the door and waited a few moments until it opened slowly. Gothi's face expressed concern at the state Hiccup was in and she gestured for him to come inside. Once he was inside the small hut that smelled of herbs, plants and potions, Hiccup was pulled over to Gothi's workbench and the small woman began to grind and mix up herbs. As she did so she gestured questioningly towards Hiccup's wound.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about, Gothi. Astrid and I just ran into some... unsavoury characters." Gothi tutted away and shook her head. Looking over Gothi's shoulder (which wasn't hard to do) Hiccup observed the green and purple paste that she had ground up and added water to. Turning around the healer slapped it onto the young man's cheek, causing him to jump.

"Wow that's cold!" He exclaimed, earning no sympathy from the elderly lady. Gothi raised an eyebrow at Hiccup and he stood up awkwardly. "Ugh, thanks Gothi. See you around." Gothi nodded and Hiccup headed out the door. _I never know what to say to her. The silence is... unsettling._ Coming out of the hut Hiccup nursed his cheek and patted Toothless before mounting the dragon. Upon take off the night fury began to head towards home. Once there, Hiccup quietly climbed up the stairs to his room. Without undressing the young man collapsed on his bed and proceeded to toss and turn, unable to sleep.

 _What happened today could have gone really badly._ Hiccup's green eyes snapped across the room, coming to rest on Toothless as he dozed in the corner. _If Toothless and Stormfly hadn't been there, or if they had been hurt, Astrid and I could have died. The dragons have always been there to fight for me, but they may not always be. I need to learn how to protect myself, how to protect the people I love... how to protect Astrid. But how do I learn how to fight? Who can I go to?_ Hiccup shuddered at the thought of asking his dad to teach him the art of war, and found the idea of asking Gobber just as distasteful. It needed to be someone Hiccup knew well, someone who'd been trained to fight and could do it well. Someone like... _Snotlout._ Hiccup sat up abruptly. _I've seen Snotlout fight, and he's pretty good at it._ As much as he sometimes hated to admit, Hiccup knew his cousin well and the two had been through a lot together in the past four years.

And so it was that Hiccup Haddock the third, heir to the throne of Berk, found himself standing on Snotlout's doorstep asking him to train him to fight. His request was met with laughter, as he'd expected.

"Ahahahaha" Snotlout cackled, "You want me to what?"

"I want you to show me how to fight Snotlout. Please." Hiccup had expected Snotlout to react in an unsavoury manner.

"So you've finally come to your senses, huh? You wanna learn from Grandmaster Snotlout?" Snotlout's ego was almost palpable in the air, Hiccup reckoned.

"Yes Snotlout, I want to learn how to protect myself and those around me." Snotlout saw that Hiccup was quite grave and serious about the matter.

"Hiccup," he said normally, "you don't need to learn how to fight. You've got a night fury!" The young Viking gestured towards Toothless, who gave him a quizzical look.

"Toothless won't always be there to protect me, Snotlout. Now please, as your cousin, I'm asking you to help me out with this." Snotlout was taken aback by how serious Hiccup was being with him. Hiccup was only serious to him when he'd done something stupid, or when they were on a mission. To come to him now, out of the blue and with a bruise on his cheek, asking for something like this... Snotlout had always been a bit jealous of his younger cousin, but the gravity of Hiccup's request touched him somewhat.

"Yeah, sure Hiccup. I'll teach you to fight. Meet me in the forest clearing a few hundred metres behind my house, first thing tomorrow morning. Bring a sword. Got it?" Hiccup smiled in gratitude.

"Yeah, I've got it." Snotlout nodded, and then turned to go back inside. "Snotlout?" Hiccup called, prompting him to turn back around. "Thank you, for everything."


	6. How To Protect Your Loved Ones Part 3

Hiccup woke early in the morning, just after sunrise, and dressed in his flight gear (which was really just his usual attire by this point) before heading out the door. As an afterthought, the young man walked back inside and grabbed a plain iron sword from his dad's weapons room. The town was completely still at this time of the morning and not even the terrible terrors were out to sing yet. Frost still coated the ground and Hiccup had to switch his prosthetic to its 'ice-pick' setting to avoid slipping. Walking through and out of the town Hiccup headed towards the meeting point that he and Snotlout had agreed upon.

Upon reaching the clearing the heir to Berk found his cousin waiting for him, sitting on a log with sword in hand.

"Oh!" Snotlout yelled across the forest clearing, "Look who finally decided to show up!" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"We don't all get up at the crack of dawn, Snotlout." He replied, "Actually, since when did you get up at the crack of dawn?"

"Maybe I always do Hiccup, maybe I didn't sleep. "Snotlout leapt off of the log and strutted towards his skinner cousin. "What really matters is that you're here and that I'm going to teach you to be-" Snotlout struck a ridiculous pose with his hands on his hips and chest thrust forward. "A Warrior!" Hiccup snickered a little.

"Yeah, sure thing. Ok so where do we begin?" Snotlout began to circle Hiccup, knees bent and almost crouching. "Uh... what are you doing Snotlout?"

"The first lesson," The stocky Viking said, "Is to have eyes in the back of your head, always watching, always ready." Without warning Snotlout leaped at Hiccup whilst his back was turned. Hiccup simply stepped to the side and Snotlout landed on his face.

"I'm a dragon rider Snotlout; situational awareness is not an issue." Snotlout rolled over and rubbed his face.

"Yep, check that off the list. Ok I guess we'll move onto sword-work then!" Snotlout jumped up and retrieved his sword from where he'd left it. Hiccup decided that it would probably be a good idea to do the same thing.

"Ok," Snotlout said, "first thing about sword fighting is the foot work. So copy what I'm doing." Hiccup complied and mimicked Snotlout's legs-apart, bent-kneed stance. "Next thing is to always keep your eyes on your enemy." Snotlout began to circle Hiccup with his sword held low and pointed towards the current chief-in-waiting. Hiccup did the same and began to circle, always keeping Snotlout opposite him.

"And the last thing," Snotlout yelled, "is to keep your guard up!" Snotlout rushed Hiccup and swung at him with his sword. Heart racing, Hiccup leaped back and dodged the swing. Next Snotlout lunged forward in a thrust that Hiccup parried with ease. He was so focused on the sword that he didn't notice the fist coming towards his face until it was too late. The world flashed around Hiccup and he fell backwards to the ground, tasting blood.

Once his senses returned to him Hiccup looked up at Snotlout and gingerly touched his swollen nose.

"What in Thor's name was that for?" He exclaimed indignantly. Snotlout laughed, obviously overjoyed at any chance to punch Hiccup and not get in trouble.

"You've got to focus on more than the sword, Hiccup! A true warrior uses his whole body as a weapon." Snotlout stifled his laughter and leaned down to offer Hiccup his hand. Begrudgingly, Hiccup took it.

It was a beautiful morning that Astrid found herself waking up to. The sun was shining, the Terrible Terrors were singing from the rooftops... It had been several weeks now since the run in with the pirates and life had returned to normal pretty quickly. The young woman dressed and left the house fairly quickly, flying over to the Haddock household on Stormfly. When she got there and knocked, however, the door frame was filled by the only slightly-smaller frame of Stoick the Vast.

"Oh hey Chief." She said, "I'm just looking for Hiccup. Is he in there?" Stoick shook his head.

"The boy's not home, Astrid. Gods know where he is, probably gallivanting around on that dragon of his." Astrid's smile fell.

"Oh, well thanks anyway." Stoick nodded and shut the door, leaving Astrid and Stormfly standing there. _Hiccup never leaves without me unless I tell him I can't go... Maybe he's forgotten me? But that's not like him..._ Astrid mounted Stormfly and patted her dragon on the neck.  
"Can you sniff out Hiccup and Toothless girl?" Stormfly made a happy bird-like noise and nodded. "Good girl! Stormfly, track 'em!" Stormfly let out a cry and took off with great speed, heading inland towards the forest. _Why would they be out this way? This area has been mapped dozens of times over._ Stormfly continued to glide in the direction of the forest for a while until the Deadly Nadder suddenly halted. Hovering in mid-air, Astrid looked around.

"What is it Stormfly? Hiccup isn't up here." Stormfly made signalling noises and nodded downwards multiple times. "What is it girl? Are they below us?" Astrid looked downwards and found that she was a few hundred metres above a large clearing in the forest. Squinting at the ground, she realised that two small figures were dancing around each other in a way that suggested a fight. Sending Stormfly into a dive Astrid landed quietly in the cover of the tree line. Creeping forward, Astrid gasped as she realised that Hiccup, her boyfriend, was engaged in an intense dual with Snotlout, his cousin. Before moving in to intervene the young woman found herself admiring how Hiccup was managing himself.

Hiccup had been in scrapes before, and had won almost as often as he'd lost, but never before had Astrid seen him use a weapon with both competence and confidence. Both of the young men were naked from the waist up and coated in sweat. Astrid was taken aback by the hard, lean muscle that her boyfriend had formed. It wasn't often that she saw Hiccup in a state of undress, and last time she had he certainly hadn't been packing this muscle. Granted, he wasn't fully _ripped_ , but he certainly held a formidable amount of strength behind those skinny limbs. As Astrid watched Hiccup ducked, weaved and parried his way through each of Snotlout's attacks and returned with some of his own. This continued on for minutes, something which had never seemed possible. The heir to Berk not only held his own in the fight but gave just as good.

That is, until Snotlout snuck in a kick to Hiccup's good foot. The pain distracted him and allowed Snotlout to knock Hiccup flat on his back. As Hiccup laid there, sword point to the face, Astrid got ready to jump in and intervene. However the young woman was completely shocked to see Snotlout laugh and offer Hiccup his hand. Hiccup chuckled and accepted it, being hauled to his feet. The two boys began to joke about and talk about that particular bout of sparring.

"I nearly had you there Snotlout, if it hadn't have been for that dirty shot..."

"Hey!" Snotlout responded, "what do I keep telling you about dirty shots? They can save your life."

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Hiccup murmured, pulling his green tunic over his head. The two proceeded to get dressed and strap on their individual armour. Turning to leave the clearing, both men turned only to be stopped by a grumpy looking Astrid.

"What the hell is going on here?" Astrid had the feeling that a secret was being kept from her, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile Hiccup's face was frozen somewhere between surprise and guilt.

"Uh-uh, Astrid!" He exclaimed in a stammer, "Well, um... I don't really have an excuse." Hiccup hung his head as his girlfriend stared him down.

"Damn right you don't have an excuse! Now, what are you two doing out here fighting?"

"Well... Snotlout is teaching me to fight." Hiccup looked up as he stated this and Astrid was surprised to see that his green eyes were hard as steel. Eyebrows raised, Astrid giggled a little and looked at Hiccup, then Snotlout, then Hiccup again.

"What? He's teaching you to fight? Snotlout, really?" (Snotlout protested this judgement of his ability, but was ignored by all).

"Yes, Astrid." Hiccup responded.

"Well... Why? Why have you suddenly decided that you need to know how to fight?" Hiccup shook his head, his shaggy auburn hair shimmering in the sunlight.

"It wasn't sudden Astrid; we've been doing this for weeks now. And, as for why, well... I can't always depend on the dragons to protect me, to protect _you_. And you can't always defend yourself either, Astrid. I need to be able to protect those I care about." Astrid took this in for a moment, before her eyes narrowed suddenly. Hiccup got the sense that he'd said something wrong.

"Are you saying that I can't protect myself? That I can't fight? Hiccup raised his hands in defence.

"What? No! Astrid, that's not what I meant! Astrid!" The blonde warrior wasn't listening. With a huff she'd thrown her hair over her shoulder and mounted Stormfly.

"If that's what you think of me then I guess I'll just go and learn to protect myself!" And with that Astrid shot off and up, into the distance. Flying in a random direction, any direction would do, Astrid let out a cry of frustration into the air.

"I've been training my whole life; _proving myself_ my whole life. And this is what he thinks of me? Ugh... I know Stormfly... I know." Astrid patted her dragon, who had rumbled. Gliding low over the ocean Astrid left Berk in the distance and sought the space to clear her head.

"He means well, girl, he really does, he just... says _stupid_ things sometimes!" This earned another rumble from Stormfly. "I know, I know, I should say sorry." Astrid let out a large sigh. "Take us back girl- what the hell?" A net flew out of nowhere and entrapped the dragon and its rider. Letting out a cry, Astrid fell down to crash into a hard wooden deck. Dazed and confused, the young woman was hauled to her feet roughly. Flinching from the rank breath that assaulted her nostrils, a familiar voice spoke to Astrid.

"Well, well, well, what 'ave we 'ere? 'Jus the Viking we were 'lookin fer. Aye boys?" A loud roar resounded around the deck of the pirate ship as a sinking feeling grew in Astrid's stomach.

 _Oh gods. This is bad, really bad. Hiccup please... Please have followed me..._


	7. How To Protect Your Loved Ones Part 4

Hiccup had barely waited half an hour before he'd gone out in search of Astrid. After pacing back and forth in the clearing for what felt like hours the Viking had strapped Toothless' saddle on (now carrying a sword in case of emergencies) and taken off in search of his girlfriend. _Dammit Hiccup,_ he'd told himself, _you can't just wait for her to get back! I Hiccuped and hurt her feelings. I can't just let that be._ Soaring in the direction that he'd seen Astrid go, Hiccup kept a keen eye out for the woman he loved.

After flying for what felt like hours Hiccup pulled Toothless into a hover. With his breath coming out in short, panicked gasps, he addressed his dragon.

"I can't see her bud, oh gods. What if something has happened to her? We would've passed her if she'd gone back to Berk, Toothless, what do we do?" The Night Fury released a concerned rumble from his throat and twisted his neck to look at Hiccup. "We've gotta keep looking bud, I can't leave her out here not knowing."

Flying on into the dimming afternoon light Hiccup felt his hopes of finding Astrid begin to fade. Suddenly, out of the blue Toothless let out a yelp to signal that he'd spotted something.

"What is it bud? What do you see?" Toothless pointed his head like a beagle towards the lone ship that floated on the waves a few hundred metres down. Moving in closer, Hiccup recognized that pirate ship that he'd narrowly escaped from all those weeks ago. Gliding in even nearer Hiccup recognised the blue scales of Stormfly as she was chained down and muzzled.

"If Stormfly is there so is Astrid. Come one bud!" As he dove down towards the ship Hiccup felt cold rage flood his veins so that his blood ran icier than the waters below him. They'd threatened him and he hadn't minded, they'd threatened Astrid and he was furious.

But now? Now, Hiccup was murderous.

From the second Astrid had crash landed on the deck of the pirate ship she'd been leered at and flirted towards. After having been bound tightly to the mast this hadn't improved. At first the young woman had feared for both her life and that of her dragon. But she soon began to fear for something much darker.

With each brutish man that passed Astrid tried to push herself away from the leering smiles, those suggestive glances. Despite this it seemed that the pirate crew had grown smaller since she'd last been there, perhaps the dragons had taken out more than they'd thought. As it was the 7 men that remained were far too many for the young warrior's taste. It was as she took stock of the situation that one particularly smelly pirate approached Astrid. Although she tried to pull her chin away the man stroked her cheek with dirty fingers.

"My my you are a pretty one aren't you? Methinks that I'd like you." As her heart threatened to hammer its way out of Astrid's chest the man stepped in closer, so that all the young woman could smell was his pungent aroma. Fighting back tears of fear Astrid squirmed in the ropes as her assaulter chuckled.

"Oh I do so like it when they struggle." Looking around for any sign of help all she could find was apathetic looks and averted gazes. All of Astrid's fear and anger cultivated into a single moment as the man in front of her leaned in for a kiss. Letting out a yell of fury the famed berkian warrior unleashed a vicious head butt into the nose of her offender. With a cry of pain the man stumbled back as blood flew from his wounded appendage. A cloud of rage distorted his features as he regarded Astrid and he responded to her attack with a slap so hard it rocked the young woman's world. Dazed and in pain, Astrid was unable to fight as the man simultaneously cursed her and reached downwards to untie her breeches.

It was at this moment that a massive crash sounded throughout the air, causing shouts of confusion. The ship rocked wildly through the water, threatening to tip. The man fell away from Astrid and she looked up into the familiar green eyes that now seemed so strange.

Hiccup had arrived.

Through Hiccup's guidance Toothless had crashed into the ship's deck so hard that it splintered and threatened to crack. Taking in the whole scene at once Hiccup calculated his moves with the cold calm that came with that special kind of fury he felt. Drawing his sword Hiccup stood in his saddle and his green eyes met Astrid's blue ones. She'd never seen Hiccup like this before, and it scared her a little bit. However this was far outweighed by the relief brought on by his presence. After a shocked moment of gathering their wits, four men grabbed weapons and planks of wood and rushed Toothless. The dragon merely swatted two overboard and sent the other two flying with an explosive plasma blast. It was at this point that the pirate captain ran up stairs from his cabin and took in the situation.

"You jus' don't give up, do 'ya?" He asked Hiccup, drawing no response. "Your dragons killed a dozen of my men tha' day. A dozen! Oh, I've been looking forward to the chance I'd get at revenge." The large man drew his sword and pointed it at Hiccup.

"Well, Hiccup 'orrendous 'addock the third! Are you going to face me like a man?" Hiccup leaped off of Toothless without hesitation and reassured his dragon that he would be fine. It wasn't pride that forced Hiccup's hand, rather, it was his pure and undiluted anger that drove him to fight for himself. Adopting a fighting stance Hiccup pointed his sword point towards his opponent.

Astrid was concerned, it was at this point that Hiccup would normally try and talk his opponent out of a fight, not join the fight himself. A change had occurred in her boyfriend and she thought she knew the cause.

Now, pirates are known for being dishonourable and backstabbing, so Hiccup wasn't at all surprised when the remaining three rushed him rather than allow him to duel the captain. Staying calm and breathing steadily as Snotlout had taught him Hiccup sidestepped the first wild swing and disconnected the hands holding the sword from their owner. Brushing past his first incapacitated enemy Hiccup parried the next's thrust and countered with one of his own, running his attacker through. Pulling his sword out with a sickening squelch the Dragon Master faced his real enemy; the captain who had threatened his loved one far too many times.

With a shout the lean man ran towards Hiccup and aimed a kick at his groin. Hiccup had learnt about fighting dirty, however, and leaped to the side. Bringing his sword down in a bloody arc the heir of Berk sliced the left hand off of his enemy. The man stared at his stump in stunned silence, before letting out a wild scream, a scream which was cut off alongside his head.

Standing there in what seemed like shock, Hiccup stared down at the fallen bodies of those who had threatened his Astrid. All was silent on the deck for a time that seemed to stretch out into hours. Toothless ended up breaking the silence but grumbling lowly and moving nudge Hiccup. Hiccup absently patted Toothless, reassuring him that all was fine, and suddenly dropped his sword to rush towards Astrid. Hastily untying the woman he loved Hiccup questioned her as to whether she was hurt, and if so how badly. Astrid reassured Hiccup that she was fine and hugged him tightly. Pulling out of the embrace, Hiccup stared into her boyfriend' eyes, which had returned to normal.  
"Thank you Hiccup, I... I don't know what would have happened if... if you hadn't shown up." A tear slid down Astrid's pink cheek, which Hiccup cupped in his hand.

"I will always be there for you Astrid, always." Astrid smiled a little and brushed Hiccup's hair out of his eyes before moving to free and mount Stormfly. As she prepared to take off towards home Astrid was surprised to see that Hiccup had not done the same and was simply standing in a pool of blood, staring at the lifeless bodies of his enemies.

Hiccup felt saddened by the loss of life. People had died around him in the past, and Toothless had mortally wounded more people than he could count. But never before had Hiccup himself been the one to fight, and kill, those who threatened to harm him and the people he cared about. It was as he stared at the bodies that he had dropped that Hiccup had a realisation come over him.

 _You're 20 years old now Hiccup, it's time to grow up. This is how the world works; people die and sometimes it's necessary that I kill them myself. I need to defend my own, and I can't always prevent a fight. This is just how it is._

"Hiccup?" Astrid queried, "are you ok babe?" Hiccup took a deep breath and turned to face his girlfriend.

"Yeah," he said grimly, "I'm fine. C'mon, let's get home. They'll be worried about us." And with that the two took off into the sunset, leaving behind both a boat of corpses and the last of Hiccup's childishness alike.

 **Author's Note: Admittedly this one was a bit darker, and lighter on the romance. It was also a fair bit longer than the last one. Don't worry; I have plans for a light-hearted one or two next. However, if you want darker or longer stories, feel free to tell me.**


	8. Into The Inferno

"That'll be two penningas please Astrid."

"Sure thing. Thanks Sven." Astrid Hofferson dropped her two penning pieces into the shopkeepers hand and accepted her fresh apples in return. Turning away from the small wooden produce stall Astrid stopped to take in the beautiful autumn breeze that flowed warmly thought Berk. All around the sounds and smells of autumn reached the young woman, filling her heart with elatedness at the childhood feeling of contentment. Wanting nothing more than to snuggle up warmly in bed with her boyfriend, Astrid began to weave her way through the crowd and towards the Haddock household.

The autumn markets were in full swing, and seemed to be even bigger than the year previous. The sky glowed orange above the milling crowds that observed and inspected all the various wares for sale. Not only were the local produce and exports offered, trader Johan had brought a whole fleet of trading goods with him for the people of Berk to spend their hard-earned coin on. With a happy sigh that brought the smell of cinnamon with it Astrid navigated through the throng of Vikings and made her way up the hill to Hiccup's house. It was as she passed the forge that an excited Hiccup came running out with a bundle wrapped in leather held in his arms. Astrid smiled and stepped forward to peck her boyfriend on the cheek.

"I've been looking for you." She spoke to him, smiling warmly. "What do you think about getting inside and in front of the fire with some warm spiced mead?"

"That sounds amazing, but I'm going to have to give you a counter-offer." Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what might that be?" The young woman noticed that Hiccup's cheeks were flushed and he had sweat above his eyes. He wiped this with his sleeve and jostled the bundle in his arms, which jangled like metal and porcelain.

"I had this idea last night, and I'm going to go and test the prototype on some wild dragons. I'd rather not go alone though. Would you come with me to test it?" Although this offer didn't sound as inviting to Astrid as a warm fire and spiced mead, the excitement that her boyfriend felt was infectious. Grinning broadly, she gestured her arms out wide.

"Sure, let's go." Hiccup grinned back and quickly smooched his girlfriend's cheek before running to Toothless. After mounting up on their respective dragons Hiccup and Astrid took off into the autumn sky. The weather was incredibly pleasant for Berk, which normally faced cold and inhospitable conditions, and the flight was enjoyable. After travelling for a quarter of an hour the two touched down on an island that was known to house dozens of untamed dragons. Dismounting quickly the couple crept up a rise to observe wild dragons grazing. Hiccup began to unroll the package that he had brought under his arm. Looking over his thin shoulders Astrid saw a steel bar that had been dipped in what looked like a translucent gel. Next to this lay a single piece of flint.

"Ugh," she whispered in disgust, "what is that?" Hiccup beamed at Astrid, obviously glad that she had asked. He lifted the steel bar and pointed to it.

"This steel bar is coated with Monstrous Nightmare saliva. Touch a spark to it and it'll ignite." Astrid nodded, following along thus far.

"Ok, fair enough, but what has this got to do with wild dragons?"

"I have a theory that if I can create artificial dragon fire, the dragons will see me as one of them and won't be aggressive. If this works, it could be an invaluable dragon taming tool!" Astrid shook her head at Hiccup.

"You're going to go stand in front of those dragons and wave a flaming piece of metal in their faces? What will you do if they don't fall for it?"

"Well that's why I brought you milady; you're the toughest Viking on Berk. You'll protect me won't you?" Astrid lightly punched Hiccup on the arm and he chuckled. Getting to his feet, the young man whispered 'wish me luck' and strode off towards the wild dragons. Looking on nervously, Astrid waited for him to do his 'thing'. Hiccup had encountered and tamed dozens of dragons in the past, but that didn't prevent Astrid from feeling anxious every time he set out to do so.

As soon as Hiccup came over the hill the dragons noticed him and immediately flattened their ears and bared their teeth. Hiccup slowed his pace a little, and held his hands out, but still continued down the hill. Once he was stood a few metres away from the dragons they began to growl loudly and advance towards him. Astrid fingered her axe nervously, ready to leap to Hiccup's aid at a second's notice. This was not needed, however, as Hiccup stared each dragon in the eye and struck the piece of flint against his sword/bar creation.

Instantaneously the steel bar was brilliantly set alight in a large _whoosh_ and all the dragons leaped back a bit. Holding the bar out towards the dragons, Hiccup prayed that it wouldn't just aggravate them. A few tense moments passed as the dragons didn't react and Astrid prayed that when they did it would be passively. Her prayers were soon answered; as Hiccup gave the sword a slow twirl through the air he found that the dragons followed it with their heads. Waving it around his head and in a few figure-eight's he watched as their pupils dilated and their tongues lolled. Hiccup smiled to himself, slowly stepping towards the dragons. _It worked! Thank the gods, I was nervous for a second there._ Holding his hand out gently towards the centre dragon Hiccup was allowed to pet it softly. With a trust-bond established the dragons all returned to their grazing and Hiccup made his way back to Astrid. The second he was over the hill Hiccup whooped.

"It worked! Did you see that Astrid! They were totally entranced by it! Wow, I didn't expect that to go so well." Astrid punched her boyfriend on the arm and cocked her hips.

"Well you scared the ever loving Thor out of me! Don't ever do anything like that again Hiccup Haddock!"

"Well we both know that that's not going to last." Hiccup smirked. Huffing in frustration Astrid threw her hands up and stormed off towards her dragon, Hiccup in tow. The young woman stopped after a few metres and spoke back over her shoulder;

"That was pretty impressive Hiccup. Good job." The young man beamed.

A few days passed after that particularly eventful one, and Astrid saw very little of her boyfriend. Although it wasn't unusual for him to go a day without seeing her, it was unusual for Hiccup to disappear for a few days without talking to her about it. That might have been acceptable a year ago, but Astrid was his girlfriend now, and she wasn't having it. After one day too many without seeing Hiccup Astrid wrapped her furs around herself and stormed off to the forge where he'd likely be working in the late afternoon. It was as she approached that the young woman began to smell something putrid. Wrinkling her nose in disgust she pushed on until she was coming up to the forge.

Without warning a large _bang_ sounded from the workshop, simultaneous with a ball of fire. Fearing for Hiccup Astrid sprinted at full speed into the forge, shouting his name. The scene she encountered upon entering his workshop was as follows;

The room was blackened with soot and many papers were singed. Off to the corner sat Toothless, who was staring at Hiccup with a look that could only be described as annoyance. Hiccup sat on a stool and was tinkering with a small device in his hands.

"I think I nearly had it that time bud," he spoke to his dragon, "maybe if I tweak it to release a little less gas at a time..." Hiccup was so caught up in his work that he failed to notice Astrid's approach, even despite Toothless staring at her.

"What in Hel's name was that explosion Hiccup?" With a cry Hiccup leaped from his stool and rolled a metre to stop and turn. Upon realizing who it was that had scared him, he visibly relaxed. Astrid giggled at her boyfriend's over the top reaction.

"You've got to stop doing that!" He exclaimed, breathing heavily, "I'm not sure how much more my poor heart can take!" The young woman wiped tears from her eyes.

"What was the explosion that came from here a moment ago?" She asked, still chuckling a little. Hiccup looked confused.

"What explosion?" Before Astrid could reply Toothless groaned at Hiccup, who nodded his head. "Oooh that explosion, right. Well, you know how I tamed those dragons the other day with dragon fire?" Astrid nodded, offering Hiccup a hand up. "Well I had a thought that maybe Hideous Zippleback gas would have the same effect, so I took some from Barf and tested my theory." As he spoke Hiccup allowed himself to be hefted to his feet and have the dirt brushed off of him.

"How did you store Hideous Zippleback gas?"

"With great difficulty and a LOT of fish. Anyway, that's beside the point. The point is that I tested it on some more dragons this morning and they _loved it_. They immediately accepted me into the fold. I had a hard time leaving actually..." Astrid noticed the small metal tube that Hiccup clutched in his scorched hand. Plucking it from his grip, the Viking shield maiden inspected the strange contraption.

"What's this?" She asked. Hiccup beamed at her, and she knew that he was about to rant.

"This," he explained, "is the device that holds the Zippleback gas. Press this button, "he pointed at a small metal button," and it spew's the gas out. I've designed it so that it can hold replaceable cartridges of gas. Then when you spin this striker on the end, it hits a flint and ignites the whole thing." His green eyes stared at Astrid expectantly, awaiting her reaction. She laughed at his cute enthusiasm.

"But what's the difference between this and the dragon blade? They both achieve the same thing." Hiccup nodded, agreeing with her.

"I did have that thought, but realised that both have their different attributes and uses. If only I could use both at once..." Hiccup's eyes widened and he searched for a sketch pad among all of the wrecked and singed paper on his desk. Once he'd procured a book and charcoal pencil, he began to sketch feverishly.

Astrid sat on the bench next to her genius of a boyfriend and leaned her head on his shoulder, watching him work. It was entrancing to watch; every quick stroke that he made was messy but efficient. Pretty soon she got the general concept, but found her thoughts too fuzzy to concentrate. Before she knew it Astrid Hofferson, greatest fighter on Berk and famous Viking, had fallen asleep on Hiccup's shoulder.

Before she knew it Astrid Hofferson had woken up, but not where she had fallen asleep. Looking around Astrid realised that she was lying in a bed inside of a small room. Off to the side ran a small staircase which led downwards. It was as she stared at the paper-covered desk in the room that it dawned on Astrid that she was in Hiccup's bed. _He carried me here...cutie_. She smiled and drew the blankets further around herself, content with half of her autumn goal being complete.

Hiccup, meanwhile, was hard at work downstairs. After moving Astrid into his bed (and planting a quick kiss on her forehead) he had ran back and forth across Berk multiple times for various reasons. Now, as the sun rose, Hiccup stepped back and looked at his completed work with a smile on his face. He scooped up his invention and headed out the door to test it. As an afterthought, he scribbled a quick note to Astrid.

It was mere moments after this that Astrid realised that the forge was silent; meaning Hiccup had left. Frowning because she wanted to spend time with him, the young woman padded down the stairs barefoot (yes, Hiccup had even taken her shoes off). Looking around the empty, dimly lit room, Astrid spotted a small note nailed to the door, written in Hiccup's sketchy runework.

 _Astrid,_

 _Good morning sunshine, I hope you slept well. I finished the thing I was working on when your sleeping head hit the desk last night, and I've headed out to test it. Meet me at the dragon academy at noon and you'll see the results._

 _Love, Hiccup_

Smiling and shaking her head Astrid placed the note down and laughed. _That mad boyfriend of mine..._ Searching for her sealskin boots, Astrid decided that she would simply spend the day on guard duty with the watchmen and women, as she'd planned. And when noon came the young warrior mounted Stormfly and headed towards the dragon academy.

Astrid landed next to Fishlegs, who had landed next to Snotlout, who had landed next to the twins, who had landed next to Gobber, who had landed next to Stoick. _Woah... Hiccup's got quite the audience here._ Fishlegs waddled over as Astrid climbed down off of her dragon.

"Hey Astrid." He said cheerfully, "what do you think Hiccup has gathered us here for? Do you think he discovered a new species of dragon?"

"Well," she replied, "it has _something_ to do with dragons, I'll tell you that." Fishlegs' eyes widened in excitement.

"You know? You've seen it?" Snotlout stuck his head in to join the conversation.

"Of course she knows, Fishbone, she's the guy's girlfriend!" Fishlegs' eyes narrowed at the unwelcome intrusion from Snotlout.

"Maybe he's _my_ boyfriend Snotlout, ever think of it that way?" Astrid said defensively, feeling as if her honour as a warrior was being threatened. Snotlout's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Uhhh. What?" He questioned, not quite understanding the difference. All was interrupted, however, when someone behind the large group of Berkians cleared their throat. They all turned to reveal Hiccup standing by himself with a strange looking device in his hand.

"Thank you all for coming," the young man began, "I feel that this is kind of a breakthrough in dragon taming and that, being the primary riders, you should know." Hiccup lifted up the device in his hand, holding it out to his small audience. It turned out to be a thick wooden cylinder about as long as a forearm with red and brown quilted leather wrapped around it. Both ends of the device were capped with miniature dragon heads, the design being similar to ancient drawings of dragons. The reveal was met with an awkward silence.

"That's a nice stick and all, Hiccup" Snotlout said in his arrogant tone, "but what exactly does it do?" Hiccup smiled smugly.

"Well I'm glad you asked Snotlout. I call this 'The Dragon Blade.' Or 'Inferno' and you'll see why in a second. This has the potential to be the ultimate dragon taming multi-tool in the history of, well, anything!" Gobber was the next to speak up.

"And how's that?" he asked "what exactly does it do?" Hiccup had no remark this time, he simply raised an eyebrow and said;

"This." Hiccup flicked the Dragon Blade away from himself, causing a collapsible blade to extend with a mechanical noise. He then struck the lighter at the head with his thumb, casting sparks. Much to the shock of those watching, the blade caught alight with a _whoosh_ and began to burn steadily. The audience, except for Astrid, stared on in dumb shock and disbelief.

"The blade is coated with Monstrous Nightmare saliva, which is why it burns. I've tested it on wild dragons and it calms them down; makes them trust me. When I can create dragon fire they think I am one of them. And that's not all." Retracting the blade with a solid _thunk,_ Hiccup flipped Inferno in his hand so that the opposite side was facing the ground. Heavy, green gas shot out and Hiccup spun quickly, creating a circle around himself. Shielding his face, he ignited it. Everyone jumped back at the explosion, and continued to look at Hiccup incredulously. Eventually, Stoick was the one to speak.

"Son, you're a genius. A mad genius, but still a genius." The chief stepped forward and clapped his son on the shoulder, smiling. Hiccup felt the warm pride that his father didn't need to express. With the shock broken, everyone rushed forward and inspected the Dragon Blade. The twins even tried to steal it, more than once. Eventually everyone had had their curiosity subdued, and one by one the dragon academy was vacated until the only living things in the arena were Astrid and Hiccup.

Astrid strode up to her boyfriend and patted him on the cheek.

"You _are_ a mad genius, Hiccup. Honestly this is incredible, how do you think of these things?"

"It just comes to me." He responded with a smile, tapping his head.

"Well mad or not you're _my_ genius." Astrid stood on her toes and pecked her boyfriend on the cheek. Hiccup shivered, pulling Astrid close.

"It's getting chilly out here." He said, "autumn is in full swing now. How about we curl up in front of the fire with warm, spiced mead?"

Astrid rolled her eyes and laughed.


	9. He Can't Be

**A/N: I had another chapter written but just decided to finish the previous story where I left it. Here's one I wrote whilst in a half whimsical, half romantic mood. I have plans to write up some of the story ideas I received from you guys soon.**

It started one day, about a year before Hiccup and Astrid had finally admitted their feelings for one another. Hiccup had been working in the forge, bent over the anvil as he tried to straighten a metal rod. Astrid, on the other hand, had been lying on her stomach in the rafters directly above Hiccup, watching the teenager work. Bored as she was, Astrid had tried to stifle a yawn, but Hiccup had heard her.

"Oh, are you tired?" He asked, casting his gaze upward. "Stuffed from a whole day of doing nothing?" Astrid scrunched her nose down at her best friend.

"I'll have you know that I walked across the village this morning!" She huffed.

"I know," Hiccup replied, "I was with you! And after that walk the first thing you did was flop down and watch me work!" Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Wah wah wah." She said. "That's not straight by the way." The young woman added, gesturing towards Hiccup's handiwork. His eyes narrowed in mock-anger, and Hiccup turned his attention back to the task at hand.

"I know that." He said. " _I'm not finished yet._ " He added, under his breath. After that the two lapsed back into a companionable silence, Hiccup working and Astrid admire- _watching_ him. And so that's how it was for another half hour or so, before Hiccup finally rested his tools down and spoke.

"I'm _done_." He exclaimed, untying his apron. Athletically, Astrid leaped down to the ground and landed in a crouch.

"About time." She said, "I was getting bored." Hiccup turned and raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Oh I'm sorry, was I not entertaining enough, _milady_?" Astrid began to blush at the last word, and quickly punched Hiccup so he didn't see. As the young man bent over holding his gut, Astrid observed him, tucking her blonde bangs behind her ear. _How does he manage to make everything so flirtatious?_ She wondered.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked, after having recovered (mostly) from his injury.

"Oh, you know, you weren't entertaining enough." Hiccup half-groaned half-chuckled.

"Well like I said, sorry milady." And there it was again, that blush. Astrid didn't have to cover this time however, as Hiccup chose this moment to stretch upwards. It was as he did this that Astrid noticed that something was wrong; something was...off. It wasn't until Hiccup stopped stretching, and settled down onto flat feet that she realised. For a moment there, Hiccup had been taller than her.

 _No,_ she thought, _he can't be_. For so long Hiccup had been the runt of Berk. And, sure enough, now that he wasn't stretching Astrid had regained her advantage over him, if just barely. She sighed in relief, having been scared for a minute there. But still... Hiccup _was_ a growing teenager...

The second time that this happened Astrid wasn't able to ignore it quite so easily. A few months after the first time she'd noticed Hiccup's growth the two were on Dragon's Edge, and were enjoying a rare day-off their responsibilities. The two young adults were lying on the beach at this particular moment, cloud-gazing. The day was warm so Hiccup had stripped of his armour and wore only his simple tunic and pants. Astrid, on the other hand, had simply removed her leggings from under her skirt. Much to Hiccup's (discrete) delight this had revealed the warrior's lean and strong legs. Astrid shielded her baby-blue eyes as she scanned a sky of the same shade. Hiccup's red-clad arm suddenly rose up beside her, pointing towards something.

"That one looks like a Skrill," he said, "don't you think?" Astrid squinted upwards, not quite having the same strength of vision as her friend.

"Sorta...Yeah, I can see a Skrill in that." The two were silent again for a moment, until Astrid raised her own arm.

"I think that one looks like Snotlout." She announced, her pale yet muscular arm pointing straight as an arrow. Following (and appreciating) Astrid's arm with his green eyes, Hiccup saw the cloud she was referring too. The young man frowned when he saw it.

"Snotlout, you say?" He queried, rolling his head to face Astrid, who nodded cheerfully. "I don't see it. To be honest I think it looks more like a boar, see it's big, fat and has tusks and oh... I see it." The two young adults turned towards each other and simultaneously burst into laughter. As they laughed, and all but clung to each other in tears, Astrid's stomach began to grumble loudly. The two stopped laughing and stared down at the young woman's stomach, astonished at the noise it had produced.

"How are you hungry!?" Hiccup exclaimed. "I watched you eat a _whole leg_ of mutton for breakfast!"

"I don't know," Astrid replied, leaping to her feet and brushing sand off her skirt. "But now that I've realised how hungry I am... I'm _really_ hungry. Want to go get lunch?" She held her hand out to help Hiccup up. Rolling his eyes the young man took Astrid's hand and rose unsteadily to his feet; the false foot didn't work well in sand. Moving back up to the base (Astrid walked and Hiccup half-hopped) the two sought out the room-size food stores. Once in the cool, dark room which had been built underground, Hiccup opened a cupboard and removed a whole salted leg of boar. He raised his eyebrows at Astrid's apparent delight.

"Will this do to satisfy your needs, milady?" Astrid faked a cough to hide the blushing that arose every time he called her that, and nodded. Pulling a large knife out from under the counter he'd placed the meat on, Hiccup began to carve up the meal. As he did this Astrid began to wander about the small room, never having been interested in cooking herself.

After a few minutes Hiccup had gathered up the sliced meat and dropped it in a cauldron of water alongside some; leeks, carrots, potatoes and pepper. As he stood there stirring the mixture over a fire, Astrid stepped up onto the stool beside him.

"Haha," She said, obviously bored, "I'm taller than you." Hiccup turned his head to face her, and immediately sort of wished he hadn't. Turning towards Astrid, who was raised up by the stool, brought Hiccup's face level with her soft, muscular thighs. A tight feeling grew in the young man's chest, one he wasn't familiar with, and it was his turn to fake a cough. Looking back down at the food, Hiccup said;

"You're, uh, you're always taller than me." Astrid smiled a little, remembering how she had worried about that so many months ago, and began to step down.

"Yes, you're right, I am." But Astrid's smile faltered as she hit ground level. There wasn't much of a difference anymore between the heights of the two, but Astrid had always assumed that she was the taller one. That was, until now. Standing next to a Hiccup who had really come out of his shell as a leader and confident young man meant standing next to a Hiccup with good posture. This meant that Hiccup now stood pretty straight, with his shoulders brought back.

It was at this moment that the thought occurred to Astrid that perhaps Hiccup had finally overtaken her, it sure seemed that way. It was almost imperceptible, but Astrid realised that she was craning her neck ever-so-slightly in order to stare Hiccup in the eye (well the ear because he was still blushing down at the meal). Leaning down, Hiccup ladled some of the stew into a bowl and turned to face Astrid. If he had noticed the height difference he hadn't let on, and Astrid was hoping that he didn't.

"Soup?" He asked.

The third, and final time, that Hiccup's height caused Astrid concern was mere weeks after his 20th birthday. The couple were swimming alone together in the cove, and were having a great time. Astrid squealed uncharacteristically as Hiccup rose from the depths and threw her into the air to land with a splash. Turning towards him with a sodden frown, she spoke.

"Do it again and you're dead-" Her threat was cut off as her boyfriend dove forward and wrapped around her bare midriff, lifting her over his shoulder. "Hiccup!" She screamed, smiling despite herself, "put me down right now!" Hiccup merely smirked over his shoulder at her.

"Oh you want me to put you down?" He asked menacingly. It was too late that Astrid realised her poor wording, and she screamed as she was thrown once again into the cold water. Whipping her hair dramatically as she rose from the depths, Astrid yelled "Hiccup Haddock The Third you are so screwed!" Rather than be threatened, however, Hiccup merely flicked water at his girlfriend's nose, smiling all the way.

"But could you really hurt me?" He asked, mock-pouting.

"Oh you know I could hurt you." Was Astrid's response.

"But do you really want to?" Hiccup asked. Astrid considered this for a while before splashing her hands down and moving towards the shore.

"No," she said, "what would I tell your father? That you got beat up by your girlfriend?"

"He'd believe you." Hiccup interjected, causing a smile to spread across his girlfriend's face.

"Anyway I'm getting cold." She said, stepping out of the water, giving Hiccup the full view to admire.

The two were swimming in their underclothes which, for Astrid, meant breast bindings and underwear. This didn't stop Hiccup from admiring his girlfriend's lean, super toned body, which was pock-marked by small, yet beautiful, scars. Truth be told so much of Hiccup's respect for Astrid stemmed from the fact that she had pushed herself so hard to achieve her goals.

Hiccup's view was obstructed as Astrid swept up the bear-skin they'd brought and wrapped herself in it. Admitting to himself that he was actually quite cold, Hiccup hopped out of the lake and strapped his prosthesis on. Walking over to Astrid, he held his soaking arms out wide.

"Room for two?" He asked. Astrid pretended to consider it, eliciting a crooked smile, before opening the fur and allowed her boyfriend in. It was much warmer with the two of them in there, and the couple quickly huddled up. Astrid placed her head on Hiccup's chest, and Hiccup rested his chin softly on Astrid's head.

"Wait wait wait wait wait." She said suddenly, stepping away from a very confused Hiccup. "Since when did you put your head on my head? Since when _could_ you put your head on my head?"

"Astrid, I've been taller than you for a long time now." Hiccup stated.

"Really? For how long?"

"Oh over a year I'd say. Haven't you noticed? I certainly noticed you standing next to me, and comparing our heights when you thought I wasn't paying attention. Astrid's confusion lifted a bit.

"I guess I did see it coming." She admitted to herself.

"Yes, and it really isn't that bad." Hiccup said, shivering in his sodden cold state. "Now can you come here before I freeze to death?" Astrid strode forward and once again wrapped the blanket around Hiccup and herself, sharing the warmth. Hiccup once again rested his chin softly on her head, and Astrid laid her head on his shoulder and smiled a little; it was nice.

 _It really isn't that bad after all._


	10. I Like It

**_I like It_**

 **A/N: I've not been in the mood for long (well, long for this type of writing) short stories. Hence this one and the previous.**

Hiccup Haddock the Third shot up like a bolt to sit upright in bed. Something had woken him up in a hurry, but what was it? The young man sat still for a tense few moments, straining his ears and eyes for the source of the disturbance. When nothing happened Hiccup simply shrugged and fell backwards into his blankets.

The second his body hit the bed, however, a loud banging sounded from downstairs. _So that's what woke me up_ Hiccup thought as he threw the covers back quickly. More banging on the door, it sounded urgent. Hiccup strapped on his prosthetic leg and ran out of the room and down the stairs, taking two at a time. The banging sound again, and the heavy wooden door visibly shook. He shot across the living room and threw the door open.

 _BANG BANG –_ The third knock of the sequence was cut off as the door flew open to reveal Astrid Hofferson, fist raised in preparation.

"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed, "What was so urgent that you had to break down my door?" The young woman rolled her crystal blue eyes.

"There was nothing urgent, Hiccup. I've just been knocking for five minutes, and I knew you were up there." Astrid looked as if she was going to say more, when her frustrated face was suddenly replace by a satisfied smirk. Hiccup followed her gaze and found that she was staring down at his bare chest. In his rush to answer the door Hiccup had forgotten to put a shirt on.

"I should do this more often." Astrid murmured under her breath. Now it was Hiccup's turn to roll his eyes as he walked back into the house with Astrid in tow.

"Give me two minutes," he said, "and I'll be dressed and out the door."

"Or you can stay like that." Astrid responded.

"Oh stop it, you." Hiccup ordered merrily. Walking back into his room, the young man rummaged through a drawer and produced a light green tunic. Threading his arms and head through the appropriate holes, Hiccup settled into the soft linen. Next he opened the cupboard where he stored his black and brown leather flight suit. Astrid watched as he slipped into and strapped on the individual pieces. It was a complicated suit to put on, but completely worth it considering the added benefit of short-term flight.

"Can you grab me that basin?" Hiccup asked, breaking Astrid's train of thought. She moved across the room and grabbed the porcelain bowl of water that Hiccup had referred to. A thin sheet of ice had formed over the top during the night, and Hiccup grimaced down at it.

"This isn't going to be fun." He muttered, before suddenly plunging his face into the icy water and scrubbing it with his hands. Surfacing moments later, Hiccup let out a yell. "That was bracing!" he said, shock written across his features. Astrid giggled at the look on his face, and stroked his cold cheek. The young woman paused suddenly, and ran her hand back across her boyfriend's face.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"You're growing a beard." Astrid said, with an insultingly large amount of amazement shown in her features.

"Am I?" Hiccup asked, absent-mindedly stroking his chin. True to her word, Hiccup found that he was in fact growing light stubble across the underside of his chin and cheeks. "Huh." He said dully. "Well I guess it was going to happen eventually. Come on, let's get down to the academy. Dad wants some dragon sentries trained for Berk."

Later that day, down at the dragon academy, Astrid and Hiccup were attempting to round up a few dozen Terrible Terrors. What had started as a simple training exercise had blown out of proportion into a large-scale round up operation. Finally, after much trickery and hard work, Astrid locked the gate of the Terrible Terror enclosure and turned to an exhausted and sweaty Hiccup.

"I don't think that the sentry idea is going to work out." She said, sitting down hard next to her boyfriend.

"Understatement of the millennium." He said between gulps of water. Hiccup brushed his long, auburn hair out of his eyes and passed Astrid the leather water skin. As she drank she watched Hiccup out of the corner of her eye. In the time that it took Astrid to finish the water off, she had watched Hiccup brush his hair out of his eyes three times. Wiping her lips, the young woman passed the water skin back.

"You're hair is getting long." She said. Hiccup turned to her, hair flipping about as he did so.

"I did notice that." He responded. "I've been thinking that maybe I'll grow it out a bit. I like it like this; it looks so much better than when I have my hair short." Astrid snorted.

"Maybe I can put it into some Viking braids for you." She joked. Hiccup looked at her with mock-intensity in his eyes.

"No! Gods no. You are not braiding my hair. No one is braiding my hair. I'm growing it the way I want to." And so he did, for a while at least. A few months later the two were sitting close together on the edge of a cliff somewhere, overlooking a beautiful forest they'd discovered that day. Astrid had her head on Hiccup's shoulder, and he had his arm around her's. The couple sat like that for a while, perfectly content with the world, before Hiccup felt a tugging at the hair of his lower right head.

"What are you doing?" He asked Astrid, who was fumbling about with the back of his head.

"Nothing," she said, "hold still." Hiccup did as he was ordered and sat still for a few minutes. Eventually Astrid leaned back, admiring her work.

"Ta Da. All done." Hiccup raised a questioning eyebrow and raised his hand to his head, only to have it slapped back down. "No touching." Astrid said angrily.

"What did you do?" He asked her. She giggled.

"Nothing. Just... put a braid or two in, but they're only small!" She added the last part hastily as Hiccup opened his mouth in objection.

"Astrid! I said I didn't want braids in my hair!" He reached up and yanked out the hair bands. Astrid immediately put on a half pout half scowl. "Don't be like that." Hiccup said, although his will was crumbling. "Oh come on! Braids don't suit me... Ok fine, do the braids." Astrid smiled in delight as her boyfriend's resolve crumbled under her attack on his affections. She grabbed two three tufts of his soft, smoke-scented hair and began to braid them with a leather strip. When she was done with her work Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's chest and smiled up at him. He scowled back.

"You're lucky I love you." He grumbled, leaning down to kiss her. The kiss deepened, and seemed like it was going to go somewhere when all of a sudden Astrid pulled back and looked at Hiccup, holding her cheek.

"What?" He asked, worried he'd done something wrong.

"Your stubble scratched my cheek." She said in surprise. Hiccup's ears grew red and he began to get up.

"Sorry, I'll go shave it off..." He was cut off as Astrid grabbed his collar and pulled him back down to her lips.

"No," she whispered with a smile, "I like it."

 **A/N: I actually had quite a bit of fun with this one. It's nice to capture little snapshots of these two together, as opposed to writing a few chapters of them. That said I enjoy doing that to, and have some on the way in the not too distant future...**


End file.
